WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV will recall about 965,000 gasoline-powered vehicles in the United States and Canada that do not meet emissions standards and will replace their catalytic converters, officials said on Wednesday.

A Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) sign is seen at its U.S. headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan, U.S. May 25, 2018. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook

The recall, reported earlier by Reuters, was prompted by in-use emissions investigations conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency and in-use testing by Fiat Chrysler as required by U.S. regulations, the agency said.

EPA said it will continue to investigate other Fiat Chrysler vehicles that are potentially noncompliant and may become the subject of future recalls.

Fiat Chrysler said in a statement the EPA announcement “has no safety implications. Nor are there any associated fines.”

The automaker said testing of vehicles on the road showed a deterioration in the performance of the catalytic converters. The company declined to estimate the cost of the recall, only to say it had accounted for the costs in the fourth quarter of 2018.

“The issue was discovered by FCA during routine in-use emissions testing and reported to the agency,” the company said. “We began contacting affected customers last month to advise them of the needed repairs, which will be provided at no charge.”

NOx emissions in California are a major contributor to ambient ozone and to fine particulate matter pollution, which is associated with asthma emergency room visits, increased hospitalizations due to exacerbated chronic heart and lung diseases, and other serious health problems, CARB said.

In January, Fiat Chrysler agreed to a settlement worth about $800 million to resolve claims by the U.S. Justice Department and the state of California that it used illegal software to produce false results on diesel-emissions tests. It is awaiting the outcome of a criminal probe.

The hefty penalty was the latest fallout from the U.S. government’s stepped-up enforcement of vehicle emissions rules after Volkswagen AG admitted in September 2015 to intentionally evading emissions rules.

Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Franklin Paul and Jeffrey Benkoe